Following a student’s statement that went viral on Twitter and Instagram accusing ASU’s Police Department of intentionally shrugging off her sexual assault investigation, students have begun to question why ASU does not offer on-campus forensic examinations.
In the victim’s viral statement, she said, “I also found out that forensic exams can’t be performed at ASU Health Services, and that their website was misleading.”
Sexual assault forensic examinations, sometimes referred to as “rape kits,” are exams in which medical professionals collect DNA evidence from sexual assaults from the victim’s body, clothing or other belongings.
During a forensic exam itself, the victim is examined head-to-toe – including internal examinations of the mouth and private areas – and samples of blood, saliva, hair and swabs of the body are taken, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Photos may also be taken of the victim’s body to be used as evidence.
The exam, in most cases, must be performed within 72 hours of the incident.
According to a report by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, “forensic DNA evidence deteriorates with time, which is why it is imperative that sexual assault evidence be collected as soon as possible.”
While the forensic exam is extremely thorough – if not invasive – no step in the exam is mandatory, according to RAINN. A patient may request to skip any step, but the more DNA and physical evidence obtained during the exam, the higher the likelihood of prosecution.
According to the ASU Health Services website, ASU Health Services does not offer any forensic exams itself. However, if a student should choose to make an appointment at a Family Advocacy Center, ASU police will transport the student to the medical facility if needed.
“Universities typically rely on external partners for (forensic exams),” said a spokesperson for ASU. “However, we have 24/7 access to these resources in the local communities and ASU Police supports victims by connecting them with nearby Sexual Assault Response Team Centers.”
The lack of forensic exam availability on-campus is not specific to ASU. As of 2014, of the top 100 colleges, as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report, only four offered on-campus forensic exams for sexual violence victims.
Students between the ages of 18 and 24 are three times as likely to experience sexual assault, and 26.4% of female, undergraduate students experience sexual assault on their college campus, according to a report by RAINN.
A report from the Office of Women’s Health, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, states that one in five women in college experience sexual assault.
The ASU LiveWell website cites that according to a study of sexual assault done by the American College Health Association, surveying current ASU students, only 6.2% of female students, 1.1% of male students and 4.9% of non-binary students experienced sexual violence within the last 12 months.
Based on these figures, a sexual assault rate of 6.2% among roughly 20,000 female, undergraduate students at ASU would lead to around 1,240 females experiencing sexual assault during their time in college, though not necessarily on ASU campuses.
According to the Clery Timely Warning Crime Alerts on the ASU Police Department website, there have been 12 total alerts for rapes and five total alerts for fondlings on campus since January 2019.
As of Dec. 1, 2020, there have been 18 total sexually-charged crimes, but only four rapes and one fondling have been reported to the student body through the Clery Timely Warning Crime Alerts.
Additionally, the sample size of the study cited on the ASU LiveWell website was 2,096 students, which is significantly smaller than the sample sizes used in reports by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service and the Association of American Universities, which both reported higher rates.
The AAU found in its study of 181,752 students from 33 colleges and universities, 13% reported having experienced sexual violence, with rates for “women and transgender, genderqueer, and non-binary” students being “significantly higher” than for men.
Many of the schools found that rates of sexual violence have increased over the past few years by 3 percentage points, according to the AAU’s study.
The University of Michigan changed its policy for sexual violence survivors, choosing to offer forensic exams on campus through its University Health Services in 2015 after activists pushed for the university to play a more active role in aiding survivors.
Dr. Susan Ernst, the Chief of Gynecology Services at University of Michigan Health Services, said that the university spoke to the sexual assault nurse examiner team that services the University of Michigan hospital and that the nurses were excited to do forensic exams for students on campus because it was a calmer, more trauma-informed space.
After conducting a study, they found that the students who received care on campus were equally as satisfied as the students who received care at the emergency department of their hospital. The key difference was convenience; most students believed that on-campus testing was significantly more convenient.
Additionally, students who go to hospitals for post-assault care are, due to Michigan state law, more likely to have to interact with police, which is often a deterrent.
At the same time as these changes were implemented, the University of Michigan offered trauma-informed lectures and training for many members of campus staff and intense training for all of their nurse practitioners to make their campus a safe, comfortable environment for survivors.
Karley Morris is a junior at the University of Michigan and volunteers with the Survivor Empowerment and Ally Support (SEAS) branch of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) at her university.
“It is so empowering to know, especially as a woman on campus, that our university has measures in place to support survivors,” Morris said. “It creates a comfortable culture that does not oppress victims from coming forward and sharing their stories.”
Morris said that she believes more colleges should be responsible for offering on-campus forensic exams and having the proper resources for students to be able to safely, easily report.
One possible reason for a lack of forensic exam resources on ASU campuses is thought to be the struggle of finding certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) in the Phoenix and Tempe area.
According to one ASU victim’s statement, she was directed to go to Yavapai Family Advocacy Center in North Scottsdale, 15 miles from ASU’s campus, in order to receive a forensic examination.
Family Advocacy Centers, which have certified SANE nurses, are fairly uncommon. There are fewer than five FACs in Phoenix, which has a population of over 1.6 million.
Additionally, a registered nurse must undergo 300 hours of SANE clinical training and pass a certification exam before becoming a registered SANE, according to the School of Nursing and Health Studies at Georgetown University. The certification exams are only held twice per year.
Logistically, this makes it difficult for ASU to find the immediate resources to facilitate an on-campus forensic examination service.
However, many students feel that despite the challenges, it is ASU’s responsibility to offer forensic exams on campus, even if this does not necessarily mean bringing in SANE nurses from nearby hospitals.
For example, at the University of Texas at Austin, if a student requests to have a forensic exam done, Health Services calls in a qualified nurse from Austin’s SAFE Alliance to come to campus, and the exam is performed on campus for the comfortability of students.
Jasmine Lester, the founding director of Sun Devils Against Sexual Assault, said that oftentimes following sexual assault, victims feel scared, tired and violated, and the prospect of being driven to a hospital or family advocacy center by police is discouraging.
Lester said that “other survivors have also noted that it is uncomfortable and traumatizing to be driven off campus after being raped to get an invasive exam.”
Ultimately, Sun Devils Against Sexual Assault hopes that ASU will offer some form of on-campus forensic examination because they believe that it will allow more students to comfortably come forward and report their experiences.
“Not offering rape kits on campus is a deterrent to reporting,” Lester said.
Mastaani Qureshi, the co-president of the ASU Women’s Coalition, said she strongly agrees with Lester.
“ASU’s current resources are not enough for rape and sexual assault victims,” Qureshi said.
Qureshi also said that not only could on-campus forensic exams provide more rapid services to sexual assault victims, but that on-campus testing might also offer a safer space for undocumented students to have forensic exams performed.
Dr. Ernst said that after changing the University of Michigan’s policy, they noticed that more students saw their campus as a safe space where they could acquire STI tests or post-assault care.
“Since we started offering sexual assault exams, students are more aware that we are a resource for them,” Dr. Ernst said.
Dr. Ernst said that the University of Michigan has presented their current on-campus forensic examination system at the American College Health Association and End Violence Against Women International so that other universities are aware of their on-campus testing model.
An ASU spokesperson who was contacted did not specify whether or not the university has plans in place to change their forensic examination policy.
Corrections: According to the Clery report, there were 27 total rapes and 23 fondlings on ASU campuses in 2019, but only eight rapes and four fondlings were reported to the student body through the Clery Timely Warning Crime Alerts. The numbers represented from The Clery Report are student experiences in their lifetime, not throughout their time on campus, according to the ASU Police Department.
Education Editor Hailey Rein contributed to this story.
Contact the reporter at clparri2@asu.edu.
Cami is Downtown Devil's co-executive editor. Cami is a third-year student studying print journalism and political science. When she's not writing or editing, she enjoys hosting radio shows, playing piano and bass, and teaching art classes at a local art studio.
